Warsini, Sri, Usher, Kim, Buttner, Petra, Mills, Jane, and West, Caryn (2013) The psychosocial impact of the environmental damage caused by the Mt Merapi eruption on survivors in Indonesia. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 22 (S1). p. 35.

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Abstract

Indonesia's Mount Merapi's eruption in 2010 caused extensive environmental degradation to communities and hectares of farmlands that disappeared as they were buried under the volcanic ash. As there has been no previous research on the psychosocial impact experienced by survivors who continue to live in an environment damaged by a volcanic eruption, the aim of the research was to identify the psychosocial impact of the environmental damage caused by the Merapi eruption in 2010 as experienced by survivors of two sub districts; the survivors in Cangkringan who were affected by the 2010 eruption and continue to live in a damaged environment, and the survivors in the Pakem affected by several previous Merapi eruptions who currently live in an undamaged environment. The Volcano-Environmental Distress Scale (V-EDS), a translated revision of the original Environmental Distress Scale (EDS), was used to collect data. The villagers (n = 348) were recruited through a systematic stratified sampling process. Ethical approvals were sought and received form the relevant committees. The results show the V-EDS score in Cangkringan participants (Mean ± SD: 15.83 ± 1.57) was significantly higher than the score for the Pakem participants (Mean ± SD: 14.58 ± 1.29) (p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed that older participants scored lower on the V-EDS scale (p < 0.001), as did unemployed or retired participants (p = 0.007), and participants who were illiterate (p = 0.037). The findings indicate that participants, who live in an environment damaged due to a volcano eruption, experience environmental distress. Interventions should be developed to help survivors deal with the distress.

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